In the cloisters of Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto

Category

Library Item

Item no

15135

Title

Votive boards in the cloisters of Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto

Description

Huge wooden columns symmetrically arranged support a lattice roof at Kiyomizu Temple, Japan. The whole cloister is made of wood and a series of long paper lanterns with Japanese writing on them hang from the ceiling. Numerous pictures of different sizes decorate the tops of the columns. Further down the corridor are thick ropes that were probably used to ring bells, not visible in this picture.

Artist / maker

von Stillfried-Ratenicz, Franz

Date

1881

Size

24 x 19.5 cm

Type

Photograph

Location

Art and Design Library

This item is part of a collection of prints from the studio of Baron Franz von Stillfried-Ratenicz, an Austrian photographer practising in Japan in the late 1870's. Von Stillfried ran a studio in Yokohama at the same time as his brother Raimund, who was also known as 'Baron Stillfried'. This caused a great deal of confusion with the local residents and visitors to Japan in the Meiji Period, and with art historians today.

This album, which dates from 1879-83, comprises 67 separate mounted prints presented in a lacquerware box. Albums of this kind were popular among foreign tourists, who frequently selected the individual prints they wished to include from the studio's collection. Many of these albumen prints were hand tinted. This was a laborious process for which von Stillfried employed, at the height of his success, a substantial number of Japanese workers.

This photograph shows the cloister in Kiyomizu Temple on Mount Otowa, in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto. The name of the temple comes from a waterfall in the nearby hills and means clear or pure water. Kiyomizu Temple was founded in 778, but the building on this picture dates from 1633, when the Tokugawa Iemitsu commissioned its restoration. The temple was built in the 'Yosemune' style (with a hipped roof) and it is said that not a single nail was used for its construction. The roof is entirely made of hinoki tree bark.

In this photograph, the many pictures hanging from the ceiling are votive offerings ('ema') donated by worshipers. They represent different types of scenes (horses, boats, ...) and were used in particular to pray for the safety of men at sea.
On the right side of this photograph and behind the tall pillars is the Main Hall ('Hondo') built in the 'stage' style, atop a precipice. Wooden pillars about 16m high support the whole structure, offering breathtaking views of the city below.

Kiyomizu Temple was at first associated with worshippers of the influential Hosso sect, dating back from the 8th century. In 1965, it broke away from it to join the 'Kitahosso' sect. The temple is a 'fudasho', one of the thirty-three spiritual places in Western Japan where visitors can buy protective amulets. The front of the 'Kiyomizu no Butai' (the stage of Kiyomizu') is particularly famous for the legend associated with it: if one would jump from it and survive the 13m plunge, one's every wishes would be granted. This tradition dates back to the Edo Period (1603-1868), when records report that two hundred and thirty-four jumps took place, with a success rate of about 85.4%. Jumping of the 'stage' is forbidden today.

Pictures of this temple were taken by many photographers in the Meiji Era including Kusakabe Kimbei, Baron Raimund von Stillfried's protege. The temple was particularly popular with tourists in the Meiji Era and is still a very famous landmark. The Main Hall is today considered as a National Treasure, and many other buildings in the complex -the inner Temple (Okunoin), Amida Buddha Hall (Amidado), and the three-tiered pagoda- are designated as Important Cultural Properties.

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Related subjects

Places > Asia > Japan

Religion > Religious facilities > Buddhist temples

Religion > Religious facilities > Cloisters